EU finance ministers reached political agreement on the so-called six-pack of economic-governance rules at a meeting today
in Luxembourg.

“These are powerful tools for fundamentally changing the
way the Economic and Monetary Union is governed,” Rehn said in
an e-mailed statement. “These will enable us to ensure
sustainable public finances, to pre-emptively address economic
imbalances and to correct the looming problems before the risk
spreads and the crisis is there.”

The European Commission “will make full use of these
tools,” Rehn said. “Mark my words: I will not hesitate to
fully apply the new rules with rigor from the first day these
tools enter into force.”